Vazhaipoo vadai/ banana flower vadai

Vazhaipoo alias banana flower, not sure of actual name... I am a great fan of vazhaipoo. I love vazhaipoo kootu and vadai. In India, my mom used to make kootu which tastes heavenly. Vazhai poo vadai will be very crispy and tasty, if u have seen the movie Kandukondean Kandukondean u will know what i am taking about B-)

Once, I found vazhaipoo in Indian grocery shop. I was lucky, coz there was only one left. I grabbed it immediately. It needs some hard work before u get to eat the tasty vadas.. I think its worth it...




Ingredients:

1 banana flower
1 small onion
2 cups channa dal
2 cloves
1 tsp fennel seeds
green chillies / red chillies
coriander leaves
salt to taste
oil to deep fry

Preparation:

Soak channa dal for 6 hrs. Peel the outer skin from the banana flower. Remove the small white flowers inside and also remove the long stem inside each flower along with the outer feather. Cut them into small pieces and immediately place them in the turmeric water. Make sure u wear apron or some dark clothes coz vazahipoo will stain ur clothes badly!!!

Add green chillies, cloves, fennel seeds, coriander, salt and channa dal in a mixer jar. grind to a coarse paste. Transfer the contents in a bowl. Add onions and squeezed cut banana flower. Mix well. Make small vadai shapes and deep fry in oil. When vadai becomes golden brown, remove from heat .... serve hot!!!!

Cabbage Kofta

Cabbage Kofta was a new recipe to me, I never used cabbage for making koftas. I found the reciped from Married to Desi. I immediately fell in love with the recipe. It was simple and easy to try and tasted really good...




Ingredients:

Koftas (This is for 30 Koftas, I just used half the qty)
1 small head cabbage,
1 carrot shredded or finely minced,
3/4 cup besan flour,
1 tsp garam masala,
2 tbsp red chilly powder,
Salt,
oil to deep fry

Gravy
1 pound tomatoes, (I used 3 large Roma tomatoes)
2 tbsp coriander seeds,
2 tbsp cumin seeds,
½ tsp poppy seeds,
1/2 tsp Fennel seeds,
1 /2 tsp anardhana powder, ( I guess this was pomegranate powder, I didnt use it)
2 tbsp minced/grated ginger,
2 medium green chillies,
3 dried red chillies,
a large handful of cilantro,
1 medium onion,
1/2 tsp turmeric,
1 clove garlic minced (optional)

Preparation:

I did small changes for my taste, still following the original recipe from Married to Desi...


1. Grind all the ingredients for the gravy together into a fine paste, adding about 2 cups of water. 2. Sauté the gravy with 2 tbsp. butter ( I didnt have butter, just used oil) letting it thicken. Bring this to a boil, seasoning with salt.
3. Mince the cabbage (best done with a food processor). Add salt and leave it for a few minutes.
4. Squeeze as much of the water out of the cabbage as possible.
5. Add the besan to the cabbage, along with the rest of the kofta ingredients, and knead it together.
6. Form this mixture into small balls, and fry them in hot oil until brown.
7. Add the balls to the gravy, and let it soak for about half an hour.

Serve hot with rice!!!!!

Adai

Adai is another form of dosa filled with nutrients. It has such a wonderful flavour that everyone will love it.. This is one of my favourites since childhood. Adai is a combo of rice and lentils and needs no fermentation.. a sigh of relief...U can make adai immediately after grinding.

Ingredients:

1 cup Idli rice
1/4 cup urad dal
1/4 cup toor dal
1/4 cup channa dal
A handful whole moong (optional)
a small piece of ginger
Red chillies
1-2 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 grated coconut
hing/Asafoetida
salt to taste
curry leaves

Preparation:

Soak Rice, dals and red chillies over nite. Drain about 3/4 th of the water before grinding. Grind with curry leaves, ginger and red chillies to a coarse paste. U can add dals at different stages to make more crunchier adai.Adjust salt. Add grated coconut to the batter.

Use a dosa pan, pour a ladle full of batter and spread it evenly. Add oil to the corners, wait till the crisp up. Turn sides to make sure its fully cooked. Serve hot with Avial...

Thengai Manga Pattani Sundal!!!!!

Thengai Mangai Pattani sundal / Coconut mango peas sundal is a must have when u go to marina beach...U can see grown up kids selling sundal all over the beach... U will never admire the beauty of beach without these noises in the surrounding... Man! they wont leave u alone untill u buy a packet of sundal.. I love the taste of sundal with mango, it wont be mushy but it has a grainy texture..I tried recreating the same old magic, voila!!! perfect sundal.. Though we dont have beach nearby, I sat in my balcony cherishing our pool view....

Ingredients:

1 cup green peas (cooked till soft)

1/4 cup shredded coconut

1/4 cup shredded mango (UN ripe)

green chilies and red chillies

salt to taste

Seasoning: oil, mustard seeds, urad and channa dal

Preparation:

Soak green peas over nite and cook till soft...Heat oil in a pan do the seasoning.. U can use curry leaves too. Add chopped green chillies and red chillies. Adjust according to ur spice level. Add cooked peas. Stir for a minute. Add coconut and mango, stir for couple more mts.. Remove from heat..Serve hot!!!

Cracked wheat pongal

Cracked wheat upma was prominent dish in our menu... after some point we got bored....I tried many recipes like pulao in cracked wheat , cracked wheat lemon flavour and what not!!!! Finally I made this cracked wheat pongal..voila... it was so tasty.. this is an inspired dish from my fellow blogger site esp Sailu's...

Ingredients:

1 cup cracked wheat

1/2 cup moong dal

1/2 cup spinach

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp cumin

1" ginger

cashewnuts

1 tbsp ghee and oil

curry leaves

Preparation:

Heat ghee and oil in a cooker. Add pepper, cumin & grated ginger and fry for few minutes.. the kitchen will filled with pongal aroma!!!!..Add cashew nuts, saute till golden brown. Add moong dal, cracked wheat and spinach with 4 cups of water. Add salt. Cover and cook for two whistles. Remove from heat. Let it cool. Open the cooker, serve hot with coconut chutney!!!

Lemon sevai

Lemon sevai is a quick fix meal for any time.. It can be prepared in a jiffy...It will be a nice change from regular upma and semiya. I use 777 brand ready made Rice sevai from Indian grocers..If u dont find them, u can use vermicelli...





Ingredients:


1 cup rice sevai/ vermiceli
2 green chillies
1 lemon juice
1" ginger
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp Channa dal and urad dal
1 tbsp oil
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste
peanuts/ cashew nuts
coriander leaves to garnish



Preparation:


Cook sevai according to packet instruction. Strain all the water and reserve. Heat oil in a pan, do the seasoning with mustard, Channa and urad dal. Add finely chopped ginger. Saute for 2 mts. Add green chillies, turmeric and peanuts. Fry till the raw smell of turmeric vanishes in med- low heat. Remove from heat. After 5 mts, add squeezed lemon juice. Keep aside for 10 mts, so that the flavours will mix together. Add this mixture to lemon sevai and mix thoroughly. Adjust lemon juice and salt if necessary.. Lemon sevai is ready!!!!

Black chickpeas and spinach curry

My hubby bought two big packets of spinach from Sam's club... Even if i use it everyday for cooking, it will take two weeks to finish it... Men have no clue when it comes to grocery shopping :(... I will always go with him.. if not this is what happens.. No point in cribbing now.. I have to use them asap.. This is my trial recipe, came out very well.. Once in a while we have to try something new..like strange combos..u will be surprised with the result...




Ingredients:

1 cup black chick peas
2 cups spinach
1 onion
2 tomatoes
1 tsp red chili powder
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
1 tsp Chole masala (store bought)
1 tsp cumin powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste
oil

Preparation:

Soak Kala channa over nite. Cook in rice cooker for 1 whistle. Remove, strain the water and reserve. Heat oil in a pan, do the usual seasoning. Add chopped onion, fry till translucent. Add g & g paste. Saute till raw smell vanishes. Add chopped tomatoes and spinach. Cook till tomatoes becomes mushy, by that time spinach would be cooked. Add all the masala powder and 2 cups of Kala channa cooked water. Let it boil. Adjust salt. Once the gravy become thick, add cooked channa. Cover and cook for 5 mts. Garnish with coriander.. Serve hot with chappathi..

This is on its way to Side dish for Chappathi event, hosted by Viki of Viki's Kitchen.

Mushroom gravy

Button mushrooms are my favourite. In India, I tried mushroom only once that too the big wild grown mushrooms, which tasted very good. Mushrooms are best eaten fresh otherwise it might cause some health issues(especially in restaurants, I don't order any mushroom dish). I was browsing vaishali's Holy cow blog, found this wonderful recipe from her dad. It was simple yet delicious.

Check out the original recipe from Vaishali's Holy cow....





Ingredients:

3 cups of assorted mushrooms, cleaned and sliced into chunky strips (I used Button mushroom)
2 medium potatoes, cubed and microwaved with some water for about 5 minutes until they are barely tender. ( I didn't use it)
2 tbsp canola oil ( Replaced with Corn 0il)
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 red chillies
5 cloves ( I used 2 cloves)
5 pods of green cardamom (I used 2 cardamom)
1 tbsp black peppercorns
1 onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup shredded coconut (I used coconut powder))
1-inch piece of ginger, thinly sliced
6 large garlic cloves, sliced
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 medium tomatoes, diced

Preparation:

I didn't make any changes to recipe, except excluding potatoes. Check out Vaishali's Holy cow!!!

Heat 1/2 tbsp of the oil in a skillet. Add the coriander, cumin, chillies. cardamom, cloves and peppercorns and roast until they start changing color and become fragrant. Remove and reserve.Heat another 1/2 tbsp of oil stir fry half the sliced onion, garlic and ginger until they are golden brown. Reserve.Without adding any more oil, roast the coconut shreds for just a few seconds until they start turning golden-brown. Remove immediately. Be vigilant because coconut can burn easily.
Put the spices, onion, garlic, ginger and coconut in a blender and using 1/2 to 1 cup of water, grind to a smooth paste.In the same skillet used for toasting the spices and onions, heat the remaining 1 tbsp of oil.Add the remaining onion and cook until the onion starts turning golden-brown.Add the diced tomatoes and turmeric. Cook until the tomatoes start to break down.Add the sliced mushrooms and stir to coat with the spices. Add the potatoes.Cover and let cook until the veggies turn quite tender.Now add the ground spice-onion mixture. Stir thoroughly.Cover and let it cook another 10 minutes for the flavors to meld together.

Verdict:

The curry tasted heavenly. The flavour of fresh peeper and mushroom was awe some.. This is going to be one recipe I will cherish forever. FYI, I replaced mushroom with chicken and it was one hell of a combo... I am yet it to try it with mutton, coz the original recipe used to cook mutton.. I am sure, the mutton curry will be more tasty than Mushrooms...

Vaishali, Ur recipe is TRIED, TASTED & CERTIFIED:EXCELLENT.

Avial (Mixed vegetable curry)

Avial is one of my favourites from Kerala cuisine. Its so simple but the flavour is extraordinary. Keralites use coconut in most of their dishes and especially this dish is relished with coconut. Any mixed vegetable can be used for this dish, but traditionally used vegetables are plantain, pumpkin, yam/karuna kizangu,drumstick, potato and carrot. I refreshed my memory with the help of Suganya's Avial recipe...The best combo for avial is adai, most of the restaurants serve this combo.

Checkout Suganya's version of Avial...



Ingredients:

1 cup Mixed vegetables ( carrot bean, peas, corn, potato)
4 tbsp grated coconut
7 green chillies
1/2 cup beaten yogurt (homemade is better)
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
salt to taste
curry leaves
2tbsp Coconut oil

Preparation:
Cut veggies length wise say 1 inch length. Cook vegetables in a microwave until 75 % done. Grind green chillies, cumin and coconut to a thick fine paste. Transfer ground paste, vegetables and salt to a pan. Add salt and cook till the raw smell vanish from the paste.Don't over cook the vegetables. Once the vegetables are cooked. Remove from heat. Add yogurt and coconut oil. Mix well and cover and leave it alone for 30 mts. Serve with avial. Don't cook after adding yogurt. If wanna re-heat it, heat in microwave for 1 mt.

Vazhakai poriyal/ Plantain fry and An award!!!

Vazhakai is nothing but raw banana. It is mostly used to make bajji. Most dont prefer plantain coz of the belief that it causes gas trouble. I am not sure if thats true.... I love this particular poriyal made with it. My mom says, the ingredients used in this recipe suppress the effect of plantain. I just adore this poriyal...

Ingredients:

1 plantain (cut into small round slices)

2 tbsp oil

salt to taste

Paste:

1 small onion

7 garlic flakes

1" ginger

1 tbsp pepper or more

Preparation:

Grind the ingredients given to a fine paste adding little water.

Heat oil in a pan. Do the usual seasoning. Add plantain pieces. Saute for 5 minutes. Add ground paste and 1/2 cup water. Adjust salt. Cover and cook for 10 -15 mts. The plantain should have soft texture, don't over cook it. All the masala will coated to the plantain (dry consistency). Remove from heat..

Serve hot with sambar or rasam!!!

Let me talk abt my award... I am so excited to receive this award.. especially after long time.. Thanks Aysha and Sri lakshmi for passing me this wonderful award.. I appreciate it!!!

The award comes with certain rules!!!

1. You must mention the person who has given you the award.

2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.

3. Link to the person who has nominated you for the award.

4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.

5. Nominate 7 other Kreativ Bloggers.

6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.

7. Leave a comment on which of the blogs to let them know they have been nominated.

Facts:

1. I am a staunch believer in God. My mo to in life is " whatever happens, Happens for good".

2. I love to be alone. Only my closest will know the real me!!!.

3. My first passion is dance and my second is cooking ( u all know that by now :D)

4. I love Kamal haasan and sharukh khan (my hubby hates him). Kamal haasan has been my childhood hero which never changed till now.. I absolutely adore him.

5. My favourite color is Red and Black, the most attractive combo...

6. I am a movie addict.. Love to watch tamil and hindi movies... The only genre i hate is horror.. I cannot stand those horror movies...

7. I love shopping.. who wouldn't???... I buy things which are absolutely necessary...I love to do shopping alone though!!!

Thats few fact abt me... this is just an tip of a ice berg!!!!

I would like to pass this award to,

Pooja of Myexperience with cooking

Parita of Parita's world

Poornima Nair of Tasty treats

a2Z Vegetarian of A2z vegetarian cuisine

chitra of Ratatouille

Ann of Delighted Foodie

Padma of Padma's recipes

Twirls and shells in Spicy Tomato sauce

I had mixture twirls and shell pasta for long time in my pantry. I found this recipe in Mahanandi Indira's Bog. If Zlamushka re-announces T&T Mahanandi, I would have loads of recipes to send.. This recipe is perfect combo of Indian and Italian cuisine...I did make few changes in the recipe to accommodate my taste...The most attractive part in this recipe was, imitating Rachel ray...Pls check out the recipe here... (U will know what i am saying!!!)


Ingredients:

2 fistfuls of thin spaghetti (I used Twirls and shells)
2 pints of cherry tomatoes (i used 4 Roma tomatoes)
4 garlic cloves
5 dried red chillies
1 teaspoon of cumin
¼ cup of watermelon seeds and chironji (sara pappu, charoli) ( I didn't use it)
Olive oil
salt to taste

Preparation:



Place a big sauce pan and fill it with water. Add salt and olive oil to season the pasta. Once the water starts boiling. Add pasta, cook for 5-7 mts or al dente. Remove, strain and reserve..

Grind Tomatoes, garlic, red chilies, salt and cumin to a fine paste.

Heat olive oil, add one or two chopped garlic. This when u have to add water melon seeds, if u are using it. saute them till golden and add the spicy tomato paste. Add 1 cup of water. Cover and cook for 15 mts.

Transfer the pasta to serving bowl and pour the tomato sauce on top. Garnish with cheese!!!!

Thakkali/ Tomato Dosa

Dosa can be made in 1000 different ways!!! I learnt this from fellow blogger who blog about different varieties of dosas in their blog. I was thinking of making Tomato dosa as variation to normal dosa for long time. Finally I made it and to my surprise it tasted really good. My hubby also appreciated my effort for trying new things.








Ingredients:
1 cup raw boiled ponni rice
¼ cup urad dal
4 ripe tomatoes
4-6 red chillies
1 tsp cumin seeds
5-6 curry leaves
salt to taste

Preparation:
Soak rice and urad dal separately overnite or minimum 6 hrs. Start grinding urad dal until soft. Add tomatoes, cumin seeds, curry leaves. Grind to smooth paste. Remove and reserve. Grind rice to a fine paste. Remove and mix with urad dal mixture. Add salt. Mix it with ur hand. No need for fermentation. Make dosas immediately and serve hot with chutney of ur choice!!!!

This is on its way to Dosa corner hosted by Padma's recipes...

Few more entries....

Tomato Uthappam




Paper Dosa

Drumstick channa kurma and Paruppu rasam

Hello everyone

I had problem with my internet connections, couldnt blog and comment on ur blogs... from tommorow i will visit ur blogs to drop a note..(Yesterday post was a scheduled one!!!)

Lets get to business...

This recipe is from Dr. Damodaran’s cooking recipes. His recipes always have a traditional touch to any recipe. He always cooks in mud pots, which enhances the taste of the dish. This recipe was totally new to me; I would have never tried this combo in million years. It tasted too good….This goes very well with Idli, dosa and Rice...





Ingredients:
5 Drumstick (frozen, cut into 3” pieces)
½ cup Channa dal
1 onion
2 tomatoes
3 greenchillies
2 tsp redchilli powder
½ tsp turmeric
1 tsp coriander powder
2 tsp g&g paste
2 Cinnamon stick
2 cloves
2 bay leaves
1 tsp sombu
small lemon size tamarind ( Soak and extract water)
¼ cup grated coconut
2 tbsp oil
salt to taste

Preparation:
Grind grated coconut to a fine paste.
Soak channa dal for 30 mts.
Heat oil in a pan. Add whole garam masala (Cloves, bay leaves, cinnamon stick, fennel seeds). Add onion and sauté till translucent. Add g&g paste, green chilies and tomatoes. Let the tomatoes turn mushy. Add channa dal and drumstick. If u are using frozen drumstick, defrost them and add to the curry. Add red chili, coriander and turmeric powder. Sauté for 2 mts. Add 1 cup of water. Add salt and let it boil. The gravy will be thick. Once the dal is cooked (should be soft, don’t overcook), add coconut paste. Cover and let it boil. Finally add thick tamarind water. Mix well and let it boil for 1 mt. Remove from heat, garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot!!!!



Paruppu rasam

Its one of my favorite version of rasam. If u try this rasam, u will never go back to normal rasam. Dal is the magical ingredient and it makes all the difference to the taste of the rasam.


Cook ½ cup of toor dal with 2 ½ cups of water (or more). Once the toor dal is cooked, strain the water from dal and mash the dal with mathu or masher. Grind 2 tomatoes and ¼ cup of coriander leave to coarse paste. Heat extracted dal water and paste in a pan. Add turmeric powder and salt and let it boil. Extract juice from lemon sized tamarind. Add the tamarind water to the pan. Let it boil for 5 mts. Remove from heat. Add Rasam powder, mashed Dal and adjust salt.
Heat 1 tbsp of ghee and 1 tbsp of oil in a pan for seasoning. Add mustard seeds. Once it splutters, add curry leaves, Asofoetida and 3 red chillies. Finally add mashed Garlic and sauté for 5 mts. Add the seasoning to rasam and transfer the pan to stove. Let it come to one boil. Remove from heat. Garnish with coriander. Paruppu rasam is ready!!!!

Cauliflower 65

Cauliflower 65 would be every one's favourite..handsdown..Its easy to make and taste so good. One of the favourite party foods as well as kids pleaser.

Ingredients:

1 whole Cauliflower floret

1 tbsp red chili powder

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 egg

1 tbsp g& g paste

1 tbsp garam masala

2 tbsp corn flour

1 tsp rice flour

1 tsp besan

1 tbsp Chicken 65 powder ( optional)

food color

salt to taste

oil for deep frying

Preparation:

Separate cauliflower florets and clean. Marinate it with corn flour, besan, rice flour, red chilli powder, lemon juice, g& g paste, garam masala , food color and egg. Leave it for 30mts to 1hr.

Heat oil for deep frying. Once hot, add cauliflower one by one. Fry till golden brown. Remove from heat. Remove excess oil with paper towel. Serve hot!!!!

Potato Masala and Keerai kozhumbu/ Spinach dal curry

Potato masala and keerai kozhumbu from my MIL's kitchen... Its such a simple recipe but tastes out of the world. As i already mentioned, I luv spinach and my hubby doesn't object it... it has permanent place in week day menu. This is another way of cooking spinach curry. Potato masala looks colorful, am sure would be a kids pleaser.

Potato Masala:

Ingredients:

2 potatoes

1/2 onion chopped

1 tbsp g& g paste

1 tbsp fennel seeds powder

1 tsp red chilli powder

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

salt to taste

2 tbsp oil

Preparation:

Cut the potatoes into 4 pieces and cook them till they are almost soft(3/4 done). Peel the skin and cur into small pieces. Marinate it with salt, turmeric and rec chilli powder for 30 mts. Heat oil in a pan, do the seasoning with mustard seeds and fennel seeds powder. Add onion an Fry till translucent. Add g&g paste. saute for 5 mts. Finally add the marinated potatoes and fry till golden brown Add oil if necessary. Potatoes will be crispy if u add more oil. Remove from heat.. Ready to serve....

Keerai kozhumbu/ Spinach curry

Ingredients:

1 bunch spinach

1/2 cup toor dal

1/2 onion

3 tomatoes

1 tbsp sambar powder

3 tbsp shredded coconut

salt to taste

Preparation:

Cook toor dal separately and mash it.. Grind coconut to a fine paste. Add sliced onions, tomatoes and salt to mashed dal and cook for 10 mts/ or till the onions and tomatoes are cooked. Add sambar powder, chopped spinach and ground coconut to the dhal gravy and cook till the spinach wilts and the masala should be cooked by 10 mts. Remove from heat. Do the seasoning separately and add to spinach dal mixture. Spinach gravy is ready!!!!

Black chick peas curry/ Senagalu Pulusu and Kattu Rasam

Black chick peas/ Kala Channa adds nutrition like fiber and proteins to our diet. I usually make puli kozhumbu/ Kara kozhumbu with kala channa. This is one of MIL's recipe, Senagalu pulusu thats what they call it... The gravy looked colorful and tasted heavenly. She also taught me how to use the boiled channa water to make rasam known as Kattu rasam. The taste of rasam was different but very tasty. It is very nutritious meal from start to finish....

Senagalu pulusu/ Kala Channa curry





Ingredients:

1 big onion
2 tomatoes
1 cup kala channa
4 pods of garlic
5 tbsp coriander powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
Lemon sized tamarind (squeeze and take extract)
salt to taste

Paste:

8- 10 redchillies (adjust to taste)
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp raw rice
3 tbsp grated coconut

Preparation:

Soak channa overnight. In a pressure cooker, add excess amount of water to cook channa. Cover and cook for 1 whistle. Remove from heat and let it cool down. Use strainer to separate water from the channa. Keep them separately.

Grind the mentioned ingredients to a fine paste.

In a pan, add chopped onions, tomatoes, garlic, ground paste, coriander powder, turmeric powder and half of the channa water. Cover and cook for 10 mts or until the raw smell of masala vanishes. Add boiled chaana to the gravy. Let it cook for 5 mts. Adjust salt. Finally add tamarind water according to ur taste. Let it boil for another 1o mts. Remove from heat. Season it with oil, mustard seeds, curry leaves.


Senagalu pulusu is ready....





Kattu rasam:




Use Remaining channa water to make rasam( don't add water)... Check out Rasam recipe!!!!

Iyengar Puliyotharai/ Tamarind Rice

Puliyotharai/ Puliyogare..whatever it is known as... is a south Indian speciality. In temples, puliyotharai prasadam is famous all over Tamilnadu. the sauce is called pulli kachal which can be stored upto 5 days. Puliyotharai is very good picnic food. Iyengar style puliyotharai is made with a spice powder where as the home made puliyotharai is made with just tamarind and basic ingredients. I luv both methods. U can use left over rice and make wonder puli sadam.

Ingredients:
1 cup cooked rice
Tamarind – size of 2 Lemons (squeeze the pulp)
Sesame seeds – 1/4 cup
Coriander seeds – 1/4 cup
Channa Dhal – 1/4cup
Red Chillies – 8-10
Methi seeds –1 tbsp
Salt to taste
sesame Oil – 1 cup
Turmeric Powder – 1 tsp

seasoning
Mustard, Urad Dhal, Red Chillies ,Asafoetida / Hing,Curry Leaves and ½ cup Ground nuts.

Preparation:

Spice powder:Heat the kadai and add the Sesame seeds, allow it to splutter. Keep it aside. Add the Coriander seeds, Channa Dhal and Redchillies and roast till they become brown. Keep it aside. Add Methi seeds and fry till they become light brown. All the above should be roasted without any oil. Grind them to a coarse powder. Spice mix is ready..

Pulikachal:Heat oil in a kadai and add the red chillies (according to urspice level)and once they turn dark brown, add the mustard, urad dhal, asafoetida. Add the thick tamarind pulp and allow it to boil for 15 mins till it becomes thick gravy( Ucan see the oil sperating at the corners). At this stage, add salt, turmeric powder and the ground powder and stir well. Fry ground nuts and curry leaves separately and add to the above mixture. Allow the sauce to cool and store it in a clean, dry container.

How to make Puliyotharai?

Spread rice is a wide vessel. Add sesame oil, and required amount of pulikachal. Mix thoroughly. Adjust salt. Puliyotharai is ready!!!

Note: To make home- made puli sadam, dont add spice mix. Puli sadam is ready!!

Beetroom Kurma and An Award!!!

Beetroot has slight sweet flavour, we have to make it spicy to contemplate with sweet flavor. This kurma recipe does this magic... The gravy will have slight sweet and more spicy flavour... It goes great with Idli too...

Ingredients:
2-beetroots (medium size)
1-cup green peas (Frozen)
1 cup Soya Chunks
Salt to taste (1-2 teaspoons)
Hand full of green coriander leaves.
5-6 tablespoons of oil

Paste:
2-onions
2-tomatoes
7-8-cloves of garlic
½ inch ginger
4-green chillies
½ cup grated coconut
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon Coriander seeds
1-teaspoon Fennel seeds
½ inch Cinnamon
2 cloves
½ teaspoon poppy seed
2-cardamoms

Preparation:
Peel beet root. Cut them into small cubes. Cook with peas by adding enough water .Grind all the Ingredients to a thick paste.In a non-stick pan pour 5-6 tablespoons of oil and cook the masala paste for few minutes. Add salt and also the cooked beetroot and peas. Stir it thoroughly. Lower the flame. Cook for few more minutes. Finally add soya chunks. Cover and cook for 5mts.Season the kurma with mustard and curry leaves. Garnish it with green coriander leaves.

Serve with hot chapattis or parotas.

Yesterday I received " one lovely Blog" award from Sailaja of sailaja's kitchen.... Thank you so much for passing on this award to me...

I would like to pass this award to the fellow blogger who follow me!!! Check out my side bar!!!!

Zucchini Kootu

Zucchini is a squash, I never heard of... My sis in law used to make kootu with it. It tasted so good. I asked her about the veggie, she said its zucchini... I bought it next time when i went for grocery... kootu was awesome..

If u r like me...first time hearing abt zucchini... Introducing zucchini to every one...

A popular summer squash, ranging in color from dark to light green with a bit of mottling. The flesh is white with a light and delicate flavor. Zucchini is cylindrical but irregular, and is often 4 to 8 inches in length, but can be found very small or homegrown at lengths up to 2 feet and 6 inches in diameter. Many explorers who came to the Americas brought back what they considered strange foods. The zucchini eventually found its way to Italy where it was named zucchino. Inhabitants of Central and South America have been eating zucchini for several thousand years, but the zucchini we know today is a variety of summer squash developed in Italy. The word zucchini comes from the Italian zucchino, meaning a small squash. The term squash comes from the Indian skutasquash meaning "green thing eaten green." Christopher Columbus originally brought seeds to the Mediterranean region and Africa. The French term for zucchini is courgette, often used interchangeably for yellow squash as well. Although the term summer squash can mean a variety of different squashes depending on whom you are speaking with, you can pretty much use the different summer squash varieties interchangeably. The English also refer to a variety that is slightly larger and plumper as marrow. plural: zucchinis
Ingredient
Season: April - August
How to select: Smaller zucchini will be younger and more tender. Select skins free of blemishes and with a bright color. ( source)

Nutrition in Zucchini
Zucchini has vitamins and minerals in abundance. Low in calories, and cholesterol free zucchini is high in folates, potassium and vitamin A with lesser amounts of the B vitamins, phosphorus, magnesium, zinc and copper. With all that nutrition, zucchini gifts us further by being low in calories.

How to make this kootu....

Ingredients:

2 Zucchinis

1 cup toor dal

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

Salt to taste

Paste:

2 tbsp shredded coconut

1 tsp cumin seeds

5 green chillies

Seasoning:

1 tbsp ghee

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

Asofeotida/ hing

curry leaves

Preparation:

In a pressure cooker, add toor dal, zucchini pieces, turmeric powder and 2 cups of water. Cover and cook for 2 whistle. Remove from heat. let it cool.

Meanwhile, make a paste of the ingredients mentioned with little water. Let it be a fine paste.

In a pan, do the seasoning. Add the ground paste. saute for a minute. Add the cooked dal and zucchini. Mix thoroughly. Adjust salt. Let it cook till the raw smell of green chillies vanishes. Remove from heat, garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve hot with chappathi/ Rice...

Capsicum Chutney & Mint chutney

JFI and AFAM reached successful end..Thank you so much for ur contributions. I will post the roundups asap....

Today's menu is capsicum chutney, I had capsicum for ages in my fridge..was looking for some recipes...one recipe caught my attention, sailu's capsicum chutney.. I have done capsicum poriyal, never even thought of doing chutney with capsicum. I gave it a try and it was great success.. Goes very well with dosa..

Sailu, ur recipe is Tried, Tasted and Certified:Excellent..

(Recipe source)

Ingredients:

3 big capsicums, washed and cubed
8-10 green chillies, chop into big pieces (adjust)
2-3 tbsp tamarind paste (adjust)
1 large onion, finely sliced

Seasoning:
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1 tbsp split black gram dal
1/2 tbsp channa dal
1-2 dry red chillies
big pinch asafoetida
few fresh curry leaves
1 tbsp oil

Preparation:

I didnt do any changes to the recipe..just followed it as it says...

Heat two tsps oil in a cooking vessel, add green chillis and fry on medium heat for 4-5 mts, stirring it constantly. Remove from pan and cool.In the same pan, add the capsicum pieces and stir fry on medium heat for 3 mts. Remove and cool.Once cool, grind the sauteed green chillis, capsicum and tamarind paste to a coarse paste (I grounded it to a fine paste). Keep aside.4Add the remaining oil to the cooking vessel, add mustard seeds and let them pop, add cumin seeds and dals. Let the dals turn red, add curry leaves and dry red chillis. Add the asafoetida and stir fry for a few seconds.Add the sliced onions and fry for 4 mts or till they turn transparent. Add the ground capsicum-green chilli paste to the sauteed onions and stir fry for atleast 15-18 mts on low to medium flame. Add salt and combine. Ensure that the capsicum-green chilli paste is thoroughly fried in oil. This pachadi stays fresh for a few days if stored in the refrigerator.

Serve with hot rice and a dollop of ghee. (Didnt get a chance to try with rice, i am sure it will taste good).

Next chutney is mint chutney....

Mint chutney is made of mint and cilantro. chutney has refreshing flavour and freshens ur entire system....

Ingredients:

Mint - 1 bunch

Coriander leaves - 1 bunch

Channa dal - 1 tbsp

Dalia/udaitha kadalai paruppu- 2 tbsp

Red chillies - 3

Ginger - 1/2 inch piece

Garlic - 3 cloves

Tamarind extract - 1 tbsp

Salt to taste

Oil - 1 tsp

Preparation:

Heat oil in a pan and add channa dal, red chillies, ginger, garlic and chopped mint and coriander leaves. . After the leaves reduce in volume remove from fire and let it cool. Grind the mixture along with tamarind extract, dalia, salt and water as needed to make a fine paste. Heat oil in a pan, do the seasoning and once the mustard seeds start to splutter pour the seasoning into the chutney.

Serve with Idli, dosa and Rice..

Capsicum chutney is on its way to AFAM:BELLPEPPERS hosted by priya of Priya's easyntasty recipes, originated from maheswari of Beyond the usual.